Facing the FCAT
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Rockway's Language Arts Department was off running the first week of school as we addressed the implementation of FCAT strategies. After an excellent faculty presentation on the FCAT by Enid Valdes, Language Arts Department Chairperson from Jose Marti Middle at our annual retreat, the language arts department planned a local school writing pretest for the first Friday of the school year. The department attended an all-day workshop at our school in October, with substitutes provided by the principal. Norma Cortes from Instructional Technology presented on the Accelerated Reader and STAR. The eighth grade teachers then presented on holistic scoring. In addition, a writing plan was developed for Writing Across the Curriculum. Finally, teachers were able to score the pretest. Writing in Mathematics, Writing in Science, and Writing in Social Studies activities are incorporated into those disciplines. Students are choosing one of their writings each month to be placed in their Writing Portfolios (Writing Across the Curriculum). The FCAT Practice Test has been administered and graded by the eighth grade language arts teachers and strengths and weaknesses have been identified. The language arts department has also developed an instructional plan across the grade levels to address each Sunshine State Standards benchmarks in a timely manner. Classroom posters of the FCAT reading rubrics are on order for each language arts classroom as well. FCAT reading strategies have been incorporated across the curriculum. The Superintendent's Comprehensive Reading Plan as well as daily before school/after school tutorials are in place at Rockway Middle. The tutorials address the Sunshine State Standards benchmarks assessed by FCAT reading. The FCAT is alive and well in Rockway Middle School's language arts department. |
